The Process of A FirstStep
by DancingHartsInsanity
Summary: A simple story of Shion's and Nezumi's contueing life, old love, and new problems together after the collapse of No. 6. When Shion awakens to see Nezumi watching him sleep, they quickly restore what they once had, and create new strengths.
1. Chapter 1

Shion walked through the door, already knowing what was on the other side. As expected, a tidy, neat bed lay to the corner, with shelves of books filling the entire right side of the room. A table, set so it favored towards the couch on the left wall, still held upon its face the envelope Shion left to be opened by one he hadn't seen in close to a year. He walked in, that familiar nostalgic feeling enclosing around as if the walls were creeping towards him.

In other words, the room was utterly empty and devoid of living organisms.

Closing the door behind him, Shion glanced around the room, seeking out anything to suggest another presence besides the two robotic rats scurrying up past his feet and ankles onto his shoulder. The two rats were inventions of the lost character Shion was hoping to see; and very clever inventions indeed. They hopped around like rats, squeaked like rats, sniffed like rats, and even had fur and claws like rats. Although the rats were good company, they weren't the greatest at comprehending the human spectrum of emotion.

There were originally three rats, Hamlet, Moonlight, and Cravat. But now Hamlet and Cravat were the ones to entertain Shion, for Moonlight had found his way into a little girl's care over the border at the city, No. 6.

Shion walked over to the couch and sat down with a flat "puff" as the couch's fabric stretched and contorted to his weight. His eyes again wandered to the unopened envelope laying on the table. It was still in the exact same spot he'd place it in; untouched and unbroken from the peril of being ripped open.

As he leaned over the table and stretched out his arm to grab the florescent white envelope, Cravat's cream colored fur dashed down Shion's shoulder, across his arm and onto the table, racing Shion's fingers to the envelope. Cravat grabbed the envelope in his paws then transferred it to his mouth- careful not to puncture the fragile paper with his fangs- and dragged it over to Shion. He happily accepted the envelope and allowed Cravat to prance back up his sleeve to his rightful spot on Shion's shoulder. Shion smiled and chuckled as he relaxed back into the cushions of the soft, yet lumpy, couch.

"Cravat, you always have to be the one in control, don't you?" Shion joked with the creamy fluffball on his shoulder, reaching up to softly tap the rat's soft, pink nose with his free hand. Cravat squeaked his delight at the comment he took as a compliment.

Hamlet whimpered a squeak, demanding for Shion's attention too. Shion laughed again patted the white rat's head with one finger. "And thank you, Hamlet, for always listening with such interest during story time," Shion complimented. The two rats seemed to smile back at Shion and squeak with joy at his presence.

Turning his attention back to the envelope in his hands, he firmly grasped both sides of the long, strategically folded paper and held it as one would a steering wheel in a car, only his arms were awkwardly straight while he held the note at at angle higher than his eye-level. He stared intently, and, slightly frowning, at the curvy, well rounded letters sprawling across the exact center of the note, spelling out_ "Nezumi." _He gave a sad smile at the name, allowing a few frames of memory to consume his vision.

The restless rats squeaked their sympathy at the loss of their master, allowing Shion to recollect himself. "I'm not going to cry over him," he said out-loud to the rats. "He isn't gone. He said we'll meet again, didn't he?" Shion closed his eyes, frustrated that they couldn't take him back to the moment Nezumi made his departure, and relay everything back like film. _"Did I just make up that he said he'll come back?" _Shion knew as well as anyone that memory was not perfect, and could accidently be altered by thinking about the subject too much or too little.

To the rats he said, "It doesn't matter what he said or did though, because I know he'll come back. I know him."

_"I know him," _he repeated to himself. Nezumi liked to claim knowing nothing about each other, but they both knew each other better than any other, and they both knew it too. _He adduced to that, so he could convince himself it wasn't true. _

After about a half hour of aimless thinking, Shion dragged himself onto his feet and looked again around the room. He noticed a very thin layer of dust, as if making a territory line around where the envelope once was. He failed to notice that the two rats had scurried away while he was daydreaming, and were now wrestling and playing on the bed.

Deciding he could make himself useful and clean up a bit, he scavenged around the very back shelf of the mini library for a relatively clean rag- Nezumi didnt want cleaning supplies to taint the "warm, homely, and comfortable" style he had for the humble room, so they were "out of sight, out of mind". Finding a rag satisfying enough to the boy's tastes, he started to rub the table's surface until it gleamed as if it was almost new, mind the nicks and scratches.

Feeling very productive, Shion cleaned nearly anything he could get his hands on. He cleared the books from their snug places on the shelves, and wiped clean every shelf-the inside walls and ceilings of the cubbies, the width of the wooden lining; every book cover- front and back; he ran the rag under the table and down its legs- carefully getting gunk and grime from the niches in the detail work, and from the scrapes and dents made by God knows what, lastly, he got the couch's arms that wrapped around the base support and down to the legs.

Content that every possible surface had been cleaned, he started to put the books back onto their rightful shelves. He left them stacked in the order he had pulled them off, so it was more-or-less simple to put them back. He studied each title as he put them back, admiring how much work had gone into binding the books. He loved how every title detail was as unique as its name. The font, the placing, and the size contributed to giving the book _personality_. If you could accurately judge a book by its cover, every book would be simply captivating. All the books Shion's read have been alluring and enticing, but he's heard from Nezumi that there are, in fact, books that are rather dull and dreary.

Nearly three-fourths of the way through putting books back, he grabbed a book by Shakespeare called _Venus and Adonis._ Curiously, he flipped through the book, glimpsing a few random stanza's:

_Forced to content, but never to obey,_

_ Panting he lies and breatheth in her face;_

_ She feedeth on the steam as on a prey,_

_ And calls it heavenly moisture, air of grace;_

_ Wishing her cheeks were gardens full of flowers,_

_ So they were dew'd with such distilling showers._

_ /_

_ 'The tender spring upon thy tempting lip_

_ Shows thee unripe; yet mayst thou well be tasted:_

_ Make use of time, let not advantage slip;_

_ Beauty within itself should not be wasted:_

_ Fair flowers that are not gather'd in their prime_

_ Rot and consume themselves in little time._

Shion blushed intense red at the vulgar yet beautiful depictions of the two lovers' intimate activities and closed the book feeling a bit tainted. He'd never even had a kiss longer than a few fast heart-beats. The thought of making love was horrifically awkward to him, yet he tried not to show it, and be like other guys who yearn for the opposite sex. A bit discontented, he placed the book on the shelf next to its partner, and grabbed the next book,_ Coriolanus,_ also by Shakespeare, as he was the most popular writer in Nezumi's collection.

He flipped through the book, reading random segments. towards the end of the book, he stopped, so not to give off any spoilers. Figuring that he deserved a break, he stood up and walked over to the bed, sitting down and laying his back against the wall, careful not smush the rats scurrying around.

"Are you guys interested in hearing a new book?" Shion asked the rats.

They gazed up at him with their blank smiles, as if giving him permission to read aloud. As he opened the book up to page one, the rats ran closer to him and perched on each of his knees, like kids scooting forward when something interesting was about to happen. Shion read out "Act I, Scene I," and was already very into the story, Cravat and Moonlight appeared to be so, too. However, he was starting to doze off; for he kept accidently re-reading lines, and had become unaware of if any words were even leaving his lips. "Sorry, you guys, i'll continue the story later, okay? I've been on my feet cleaining all day," he explained in slurs to the rats while he started to un-tuck the blanket from the bed. "Good-night, Hamlet, Cravat."

Within seconds all three of the innocent and humble creatures were curled up and asleep.

The next morning, Shion's eyes fluttered open to see a blank, wash-white wall. He closed his eyes again and wiggled around in bed, not yet willing to wake up. After a few minutes he realized going back to sleep wasn't going to happen, and tossed around in the bed some more, stubborn against his restless mind and body. Turning around to face the room, he sleepily called out, "Good moring, Cravat, Hamlet."

What he saw in the room, though, was anything but what he was expecting.

A black leather jacket; baish jeans, and worn-out, heavy-duty hiking boots were worn by a handsome figure with dark, silky hair tied back into a pony whom was sitting on the couch.

In the room.

With Shion.

"Nezumi?" Shion called out cautiously, afraid his voice may frighten the man in front of him like a mouse recoiling from a creak of the floorboards.

The man only responded with a glance of his eyes. Shion called out again, "Nezumi? Is that you? Are you actually here?" Those unwavering eyes held their position.

Unable to hold back any longer, Shion flung himself out of bed, hoping the movement would help alert the man to his presence.

His eyes contained a look almost of anger, and full of an unplaced emotion. He too stood up, slowly, but sturdily. Shion couldn't hold back a grin, even if this was a dream, even if Nezumi was slightly mad for whatever reason, if he were upset, anything, Shion didn't want for this Nezumi to leave.

"Hey! Nezumi!" Shion stumbled toward the man, tripping his feet with mere eagerness into the blanket he had too hurriedly thrown off, and toppled over into Nezumi's arms. "Aah, sorry!" Shion quickly hurried himself back up out of politeness, unsure if for some reason their relationship had reverted to a somewhat more awkward state, and gazed into the characters eyes, happy, that actually looked back.

"Heeeeey, Nezumi!" Growing childishly frustrated with the melancholic man, Shion nearly shouted, "Say something, Nezumi!" After stumbling forward, and inching his way closer in an attempt to ruse the rat from his dully-angry scowl, they were nearly face-to-face. The realization almost made Shion fluster with excitement at being able to look so endearing into those lost eyes again.

A more defiant frown appeared a Nezumi's face. "Say something?" He asked. "How does this work, 'What the hell were you thinking? Why is that damn door unlocked? Do you know how dangerous it is out there? With poverty takings its toll on nearly everyone within a 50 mile radius within No. 6, there's robbers out there willing to do anything to get a few cents for their next meal! Are you stupid, Shion?"

Shion couldnt hold back, he burst out laughing. He flung himself onto Nezumi, pushing him down onto the couch. Nezumi himself couldn't resist the contagious ring of Shion's precious laugh, and he too started to giggle, then laugh, just as hard as Shion. He wrapped his arms tightly around Shion's scrawny body and tightly gripped the fabric of his shirt.

Once Shion's laughing had slowed to his regular breathing, he looked up at Nezumi, meeting his once again composed, yet now relaxed and content, expression. He looked away, suddenly feeling like a shy infant, and felt his cheeks start to tingle with heat again.

"I- I missed you... Nezumi." confessed Shion.

Nezumi rested the side of his head against the top of Shion's. "I know," was all he said.


	2. Chapter 2

Shion awoke a few hours after Nezumi had returned. Although Shion had only been awake about forty-five minutes to an hour after Nezumi's unexpected appearance, once he tackled Nezumi onto the couch, and after a few moments of silence as loud as a welcoming committee, he realized how suddenly drained and exhausted he'd been over the course of Nezumi's absence. A lot had happened since, and fretting over him made sleep come no easier for Shion.

It was that stage in waking up, where you know you're awake, yet you're just asleep enough to catch flitting dreams. In those dreams, Shion could sense what was happening, rather than seeing or thinking them. He felt confusion, excitement, and fear. Just from those, he knew he was dreaming about Nezumi. Confusion; Shion had so many questions for him. Excitement; After nine months of being alone, he finally received what he'd been wishing for- hoping for... nay, _praying_ for to come back. And fear; he was scared for his best friend's life, it was the middle of winter, and this man had come back looking raggedy and worn. Even more than anything else, Shion feared that Nezumi would be gone again once he woke up.

That thought alone jerked Shion to a confused and blurry full-consciousness, his breath catching in his throat. Shion's eyes hurriedly fluttered open and he felt a slight cold sweat, his heart racing faster than he'd felt for awhile. He was used to dreams where Nezumi returned, and then realized just at the brink of dreams' edge that he wasn't _actually_ back, or dreams where Nezumi was torn away from him or even worse, dead or dying. But what made this dream, this small step from Shion's waking conscious, was that it was almost painfully near the truest level of reality.

Shion, fully alert now, groped around him to find any sign of Nezumi. As he felt no arm underneath his head, he quickly sat up, panic rushing into his throat and blocking off his air passage. He felt a weight at his hip, and heaved a sigh of relief. He noticed Nezumi's arm slung carelessly across. Gravity, however, shifted his arm as Shion sat up and pulled his arm down so that it was awkwardly resting across the top of his thighs.

Shion's cheeks heated like a freshly struck match as he observed the closeness of Nezumi's loosely slung arm by his manly-bits. Rapid yet gently, Shion flung himself back down on the couch and repositioned Nezumi's arm so it was a bit higher up towards Shion's ribs. His cheeks still burning, he wondered if it was inappropriate even for Nezumi's arm to be laid across his ribs. He shifted uncomfortably, unsure if he should rearrange Nezumi again, or leave him be.

Perhaps put it at Shion's waist, as it had probably been before he forced it to slide down? Or maybe fold it up and put it back in Nezumi's own boundaries? That would be kind of squished and uncomfortable for Nezumi though, wouldn't it?

Shion silently spazzed about Nezumi's arm before finally deciding to get himself comfortable first. Trying to squirm without making too much a fuss, after about three different poses, Shion finally settled on facing towards Nezumi. He decided to leave Nezumi's arm as it was (since it'd shifted _again_ in Shion's frantic journey for comfort); sprawled over the dip on the side of Shion's tummy, right above the hip and right below his ribs.

Drawn to Nezumi's sleeping face like a child to a colorful assortment of sweets, Shion gazed longingly at his companion's long, almost feminine, dark eyelashes.

_ "It's strange," _Shion thought, _"that he didn't wake up through all my wiggling. He really must be tired. I'm aware of the fact that he isn't a deep sleeper." _Shion smiled with a sense of nostalgia as a memory replayed from when Shion had first left No. 6, and had only been with Nezumi a few nights.

_"Hey!" Nezumi shouted in the middle of a dream Shion only now faintly recalled of colorful flowers and the presence of freshly baked bread. "I can't sleep because you've been whimpering like a damn child for the past hour. I expect you to make it up to me tomorrow. I hope you can pay for a super, extra large coffee with seven packages of sugar and even more cream tomorrow morning. The café charges extra for any more than four of each."_

_ Shion sleepily rubbed the false sense of sunlight from his eyes and murmured, "I'm sorry, Nezumi. I'm homesick. I can't help but miss her, she's been with me and supported me my whole life, she's my only family."_

_ Nezumi only glared in the darkness towards Shion struggling to stay awake over on the couch, then let his head drop to the pillow with a fluff and muttered weakly, "Idiot."_

Rushing back into reality, Shion realized that he hadn't been very aware while he was daydreaming. The hand he wasn't using as a pillow had found its way onto Nezumi's cheek, and was stroking single strands of shiny raven-black hair away from his face.

Although flustered, Shion didn't pull his hand back, but instead left it to lightly perch on Nezumi's soft, pale cheek.

_"He really must be exhausted..." _Shion couldn't help but worry as to why this beautiful man, or better put, boy, was so drained of energy. As much as he wanted to know of Nezumi's adventures, he wouldn't wake up this sleeping boy for the world.

•••••••••••••

Shion's limb's were starting to ache and feel like ungreased metal. _"Nezumi... wake up." _It was really odd at how much this almost-blue color haired boy had slept. Shion felt like he'd been staring at Nezumi for hours, although he highly doubted such. It'd maybe only been an hour-hour and a half _tops_.

Shion's body was starting to long for movement and stretching, but his eyes... they could stay glued onto Nezumi's features for years and he felt that _still _wouldn't satisfy his hunger for this aluminium-eyed creature.

Deciding to take a walk around the room, Shion as quietly and gently as possible slipped under Nezumi's arm and off the couch. He stood up and arched his stiff back and arms. Slowly, so his aching bones wouldn't verbally protest their effort. _"Not even a flinch..."_ Now, Shion was beginning to worry about him. He glanced at Nezumi's chest, and was glad to see it rising, up and down, up and down. It did seem to be... heaving? Perhaps?

The biologist in Shion sprung into action. Is something broken? Had he fractured a rib? Suffered a flesh wound? Shion stared at Nezumi's chest, scanning for any blood, there luckily was none. "_His ribs." _Shion inwardly stated the bone structure for confidence. _"I can do this the physical way, or the visual way..."_

Shion didn't acknowledge it, but he felt his cheeks warm up a bit. "_I either touch him, or look at his... his chest." _He was so embarrassed by both thoughts. He's touched Nezumi impulsively before, on the neck. But that made this situation no easier. Shion recently discovered he seemed to work better on impulse, and when he gave himself time to think things through, he started to get nervous and fidgety. He took too much time looking over the details.

"_I need to do this if I want to help him. Doing this could mean life or death for him, and then... then I just wouldn't be able to handle myself if he didn't make it because I was ignorant of my duty to save a life. I've given him a shot before. I stuck a needle and thread in his arm, and I was much younger then! Ugh, why is this so hard now?"_ Before he could think on it anymore, Shion began to settle the issue and knelt down by the couch. It would probably be more comfortable for Nezumi if Shion just patted him down rather than pull up his shirt, but, since it was a bit thick, it would be difficult to feel much of anything smaller than the obvious break. So Shion tenderly tugged up Nezumi's shirt, ever so slightly, so barely any skin showed.

He concentrated on feeling around Nezumi's ribs, moving from each individual bone starting at his back, following up to his front. Shion kept nervously glancing up at him, to check for any twitch in his face to suggest pain. Shion's cheeks were burning again, just like his hands were burning as if each of his sensitive nerves had been individually tickled with feathers at the feel of Nezumi's bare skin. He guessed that because Nezumi was lying on one side, that side of his ribs wouldn't be broken. But, just to be sure, he drug his fingertips across Nezumi's tummy to feel that side, at least the front area of his ribs; it would give Shion a guess of if any medical attention were needed.

"What are you doing?"

Shion froze, he was drastically aware that his cheeks were probably so red they looked like Pikachu's red circles of upon his.

"Euh... Er. Well, I- I-" Shion stammered nervously and realizing his hands were still frozen to Nezumi's tummy, pulled them from under his shirt, and quickly up to his own face to hide his embarrassment.

"Were you so lonely that you tried to take advantage of me the minute you got a chance?" Nezumi said those words harshly, but Shion knew they were innocent and held no serious accusations. Nezumi prodded himself up at his elbow and stared at Shion with kind yet determined eyes- he was going to find out what Shion's hands were doing up there.

"It- It- It wasn't like that!" Shion wanted to stand up and defend himself, so as not to look like some kind of pervert, but his knees were nailed to the floorboards. His too large purple sweater hung over the ends of his little hands, which were up at his face, and made him feel like an overly done, cute, big, watery-eyed anime girl confessing her feelings to a long-lived love. "I just... I just thought you might have been almost dead."

Nezumi looked at him like as if he were a new species of fat, furry caterpillar. He burst out snickering, almost going into a full-out laugh. The arm he wasn't using to hold himself up clutched onto his gut almost as if he hadn't laughed for months. Shion guessed he hadn't.

"Hey!" Shion glowered angrily, feeling even more embarrassed. "It's not funny! I seriously thought you might have been hurt!" He was getting defensive now, and Nezumi could tell.

Oh how Nezumi loved to tease Shion. "So the best way to check if someone is dead, is to feel them up? Shion! You're a natural!" Nezumi continued to laugh.

Shion felt at ease with those words. _You're a natural._ Nezumi used to say them to him when they first met. Shion let his head slide down and rest into his folded arms. He put on a face like a child angry play time was over. His lower lip puffed out and his eyes took on a stern expression.

He waited for Nezumi's laughing fit to simmer down. He wasn't at all angry at Nezumi's reaction. In fact, Shion was glad that he could see Nezumi like this so early in their meeting. He'd often daydream that when he came back, Nezumi wouldn't be Nezumi. That he would be cold and distant. He wouldn't allow Shion back into his heart, and would keep him away like he did for everyone else. Shion was relieved that Nezumi was laughing so much.

Once Nezumi's own cheeks were stained with light blush and tears from laughing so hard, Shion sat up and re-rested his head into the palms of his hands and asked, "Can I explain now?"

"Yes," Nezumi said nearly composed, a smile still poised across his face.

"You've been asleep for hours. And you weren't even moving. I was wiggling around a lot, and you didn't even stir. I was afraid you'd broken something, your breathing seemed to a be bit heavy."

"I'm tired," Nezumi retorted plainly. "I was simply in a really deep sleep, you should know thats how deep sleep works, being the biologist you are."

"I'm also the best in my class at Nezumi-ology. I know nothing is ever 'simple' with you."

"Thank you, Shion."

That took Shion by surprise. "Thank you? For what? Being a professional on you?"

"No, for taking care of me. For checking I was okay."

They sat in silence again, Shion unsure of what to say. 'You're welcome' seemed too broad a response. Yet he didn't want to get all sappy and say things like 'That's what friend's do' or 'don't mind it too much, it wasn't anything.' Nothing seemed to be appropriate for the situation. He still felt Nezumi's excess sleep and deep breathing weren't simply 'heavy sleep.'

Nezumi broke the silence by loudly exhaling and resting back down, he stretched his arm over his eyes and fell silent again.

"You're still tired? Shion asked, a bit startled. Nezumi hadn't ever been much of a sleeper.

"Unlike you, you haven't been wandering around the desert in mid-winter. Nor did I receive hours of sleep last night and another few earlier this morning. I think it's a fair excuse for me to be a bit tired, Shion."

"Maybe you're sick."

"It's possible. I've been out in freezing weather during the day and even colder during the night. I may have caught a cold. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not invincible."

"The cold wouldn't make you any more sick than if you were here," Shion stated in a matter fact voice.

"Shut up..." Shion knew that wasn't the last of Nezumi's words, he was just thinking of how to word them. So, Shion obeyed and kept his mouth closed, anticipating Nezumi's next presumably smart-ass response. "You do know that this desert used to be hot, just like most other deserts, even during winter, don't you?" Nezumi asked.

Shion anwsered relectutantly, feeling this may lead to a dispute about his No. 6 blood. "... No. I thought it's always been hot in summer and cold in winter."

"It also used to have a great variety of animals. What we see roaming through the towns or out on the plains now, thats only half what used to exist. Most deserts around this area all used to be hot year around, but cool during the night. But because of biohazards from No.6, and its control overwhelming climate conditions, its altered the desert over the course of a mere century. It usually takes millenia, take or give a few centuries, to alter something so drastically. However, drastic results call for drastic events. That's exactly what No. 6 is- drastic and outstandingly good at what it does: experiment and fool with nature."

"It doesn't matter anymore though, does it? We destroyed No. 6, and the Moondrop, which was the source of the experimentation."

Nezumi was silent, and gave no indication of saying more on the subject.

"Why do you do that?" Shion asked.

"What do I do?"

"You lead into something, then cut off right before the climax."

"Only you would think that. You're too observant. You look into things that don't need any further attention. I was just wondering if you were aware of what that city's done. Not only to thousands, maybe millions of its citizens, but everyone around the world, who depended on its imports and its highly regarded research center; I'm sure that made a lot of money and contributions to society. Even the environment around it was affected more than any other surrounding area. It's really a filthy, disgusting place, isn't it?"

Shion didn't know what to say to that. After the course of his recent years, he felt he couldn't agree more. He couldn't help but feel compelled to defend his birth home, though. He'd grown up there, and lived there happily, until nearly 5 years ago.

"About that cold you might have," Shion interrupted his own thoughts. He didn't want to begin worrying over what he knew was past when he should be rejoicing for Nezumi's present return. "Will you let me check?"

"What will checking accomplish?"

"I'll just feel better if I know for certain." Shion smiled at him, although Nezumi's face was still buried in the soft of his elbow.

"If you so desire, you can feel if I have a fever. With your hands. I don't want any of your weird paramedic, medical stuff involved.

Shion heaved himself onto the small couch, then crawled over toward Nezumi and straddled him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Nezumi shouted, pulling his arm above his head to show Shion his angry expression. "Can't you use the floor?"

Shion sat on Nezumi's strong chest. "Well I guess I could've, but, this way just seemed more fun. Besides, now i'm directly over you, so i'll get a more accurate temperature reading."

"Don't talk like you're some damned thermometer... I'm already regretting agreeing to this... Just get it over with."

Shion pulled his white, whispy hair up with one hand, and with his other brushed Nezumi's away and pulled it back a bit.

"Nezumi."

"Ugh, what? And you think I'm the one who can't make anything simple?"

"No, I said _you're _never simple. There's a grammatical difference in making something simple or being simple yourself."

Nezumi looked ready to pin Shion to the ground and stuff snow down his shirt, in his pants, up his nose, in his ears and in between every individual toe. Not to mention other undesirable places.

"Anyways, I was just going to say you look really good with your hair pulled back. You have a nice face." Shion continued what he was going to say earlier before being ever so rudely interrupted.

He wasn't expecting a response to that, perhaps a rude retort, so Shion bent down to take Nezumi's temperature, without awaiting any statements from him, and released both their hair after their foreheads met, so he could gain balance by putting his hands against the couch's arm. One hand on either side of Nezumi.

"You _are_ warm Nezumi!" Shion exclained to him, who was strikingly very close. "I mean, sick warm, not people warm," he was refering to Nezumi's interest in how warm 'living humans' are, "I'll make some soup for you."

Nezumi quickly grasped the back of Shion's neck, pinning him to keep their foreheads pressed, before Shion could excitedly skip away to prepare a meal. "Wait."

Shion's stared back at Nezumi's aluminum-eyes. Those blue-gray, shining eyes. Suddenly flustered, Shion's mind started to race. "Wh-What is, Nezumi?" Shion began to feel his cheeks light up again, he hoped this wasn't a new habit he was forming. Nezumi did look sick, but Shion didn't recall him feeling warm when he was stroking his cheek. Nezumi even looked a bit flushed of color, save his slightly pink cheeks.

"I'm not hungry."

A bit surprised, Shion gasped, from the lack of air because his pumping heart was speeding up at their closeness more than surprise, "When did you eat last?"

"I just want to sleep." Nezumi's eyes were droopy, and he sincerely did look tired.

Shion's own forehead was beginning to burn from contact with Nezumi's.

"You can still sleep, I'll just cook while you're sleeping. It takes awhile to cook anyways." Shion was really starting to feel uncomfortably hot from Nezumi's heat mixed with his own.

"No."

Nezumi kept looking into Shion's cardinal-red eyes, and Shion felt he could not break nor avert their gaze. He was aware that he could break free of Nezumi's light grip on his neck, but, he did not want to. He liked to be this close to Nezumi. He loved the racing of his heart, and he loved wondering if Nezumi was feeling this way too. Shion could feel his facial muscles relax and his eyes lazily droop. He felt intoxicated, he could feel blood pounding through his veins as his heart worked rapidly. His head felt odd, as if it were heavy, yet, also weightless by being held up by Nezumi. It was like he was drunkenly aware of all of his bodies little functions. He wasn't entirely sure how, but was certain that his hand was yet again moving of its own desires, and placing itself on Nezumi's own neck. Shion's hand was a bit more more adventurous than Nezumi's, and ran its way down his neck.

Shion wished that Nezumi's hair was down. Just playing with his neck was like a tease to Shion's fingers, and he wished they could dance and entangle themselves, rather than have the chilly air on them.

"Nezumi...?" Shion tried to reduce his voice as silently as it would allow, without cracking. He felt sleepy, and he was almost aware how seduced he was.

Shion's eyes slowly drew to a close, so smoothly that he hadn't known how long they were closed, and how long he'd been only seeing void instead of his most precious person's eyes. Ever so slightly, he rearranged his angle, so his nose could slide easily passed Nezumi's. He hesitated, only for a short second, to feel any sign of resistance from Nezumi. There was none.

He lowered himself the last breaths movement, and placed his lips upon Nezumi's.

Nezumi's lips... They felt incredible. Shion wanted to hold them forever, he wanted to claim Nezumi as his own, consume him. The feeling was indescribable. It was something of pure pleasure. A shot of pure cocaine into his veins, it was most blatantly put, a wave of kept up emotions from the past nine months, of what Shion could only place as Love.

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><p>How was it? I'm not sure how well its coming out. I'd LOVE to have some feed back on this one XD I'm not sure where its heading from here. You have as good a a guess as me. lol. I also thank PerfektFlawz for editting this piece for me, cuz i suck at life sometimes XD She's awesome. ANYWAYS. Yeah, actually, I <em>really<em> want some feedback from here XD I'm not sure if i kept them in character. i'm kinda thinking that their leaning towards the novel versions of themselves more than the anime them.

Is it making any sense? i'm feeling like i may be using names a bit much. What do you guys think? i feel like i'm horribly repeating words, any advice to spice some things up for me? ... did any of that make sense? XD i need some sleep guys.


	3. Chapter 3

Finally! :D Chapter 3 is here! -dances- Its a really short chapter, so I'm hoping things pick up in the next. Sorry for the **HUGE** delay, been busy with school and work. Boring stuff Dx So, without any further a-do, enjoy~~~ :D_  
><em>

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><p>Shion sat, idly stirring the stew he'd prepared for when Nezumi woke up. Nezumi had crashed again after only being awake a few minutes. He wondered if Nezumi was purely exhausted, or if time was just moving in an odd slow-motion on fast-forward. Not wanting the stew to turn cold, he covered the pot and left it on the unique furnace-stove but smothered the coals. He'd never seen such a bizzare "oven" before Nezumi had introduced it to him. Shion and his mother were by no means living in luxury over the past few years, but they had the typical oven to cook.<p>

Ever since coming to the slums and meeting Nezumi, he'd seen and met many new things that kept his bewilderment growing at how people could simply slap a wall around them selves and ignore the suffering around them. The smallest things, such an electric oven, were luxuries everyone took for granted. In the harshest conditions the city had electricity and food, even the ghetto's of the city lived pleasantly easy. But now, with the walls destroyed, would anyone live the way they once had?

This was among many questions that made their residence comfortable in Shion's mind, even if his heart had protest. All these open problems stressed him out, he knew they were all his fault; he brought this upon everyone. He thought it would've turned out better, and now regrets the optimistic outlook he once held onto so tenderly. It seemed nothing was looking better after the hard work he put into it, he only made things worse for both sides of the wall.

Those on the outter wall had no problems crossing the border now and taking what they could from the city; and the naivety of the citizens left them vulnerable to the thievery. The slums outside the wall stole from one another what'd they stolen from the city. They fought over profits, fought with the pawners, an seemed to fall deeper into economical chaos than they were before. Those from inside the city lived in terror of being mugged and robbed. He felt he'd only corrupted what was left of the innocent citizens inside the walls, and increased the insanity outside them.

"You've done a good thing, Shion. Things look bad now, but you saved the city," Nezumi said with a dry voice. He sat up and grabbed for the glass of water Shion had been sipping on. Sounding clearer he continued, "If you hadn't broken down the walls, the bees may not have stopped, that was what they were created and harvested for: destruction of the city. Elyurias may have been acting in her own will to attack, but the expirements of the scientists and carelessness of the citizens enraged her to do so. Destruction was on the rise either way you look at it. Sure, the bees took out a good quarter of the population, but the mindless fools were the ones who deserved to die, punishment for their idiocy."

"Don't say such a thing! No one deserves such an extreme punishment, no matter their crimes!" snapped Shion, "They still-"

"They got what they had coming!" Nezumi pounded down the glass with force enough that made it splash out the sides. "Its opened up the eyes of the city, everyone who survived til now realizes how distorted their life had been. Now they can move forward with out looking back, you've _helped_ them, Shion! You've done all you can do, its up to them now what they do with the freedom: perish in their simple-minded existence, or stand up and do what they can to live."

"I can't stand by knowing that I created this poverty, I have to pay my debt for shattering their happy lives."

"They would all be dead if you hadn't interrupted the governments experiments! Why can't you just accept the gratitude they owe? You're asking the wrong questions. Instead of, 'Why'd things happen like this?,' try 'What if the experiments succeeded?'. Why don't you understand that without your intervention, they would've all died inside the walls; killed off by what was left of government officials who still cling to their malicious beliefs, or been taken to be continuously experimented on! You've opened their eyes, why can't you open your own?"

Shion glared at the edge of the table, unwilling to come up with a counter argument and against the thought of getting into a tussle with Nezumi. "Are you hungry? I made some stew. It isn't much though, its hard to come by a good slice of meat and fresh produce."

They sat quietly through dinner (or was it breakfast?), focusing their thoughts on anything but the over-salty and stale stew. After Shion tidied the dishes and Nezumi stretched then sat on the bed, they stood on opposite ends of the room, awkwardly waiting for more conversation. Shion was reluctant to start another dispute, but wanted to hear Nezumi's voice again. It's been so long, and the first thing they can manage to do is argue.

Taking a risk, he decided to ask, but back down if tension started to rise. "Where were you? All those months and I hadn't heard a thing from you. No letters, no messages, nothing. Was it that important that you had to leave me behind?"

"I don't really want to talk about it right now, maybe I'll tell you later. But now, it's nice just to be... home." Nezumi stuttered over the last word, but that hesitation was the clearest answer Shion could have ever asked for.

"You never planned on coming back?"

"I never had a real place to come back to. A home."

The words lingered over the room like thick fog.

Shion wanted to know more details about the journey, more about what'd happened, where he went, what'd he'd done, but was satisfied with the answer. He walked over to Nezumi and wrapped his arms around him, clinging to the back of his shirt, letting his cheek rest on Nezumi's strong chest. "Thank you... For coming back. I feel like things _will _start looking up from now."

Nezumi responded by tightly wrapping his own arms around Shion's petite shoulders, and rested his head against the wavy white-hair of the smaller boy.

"We'll start finding a way through this, if that's what you want. We'll find a way to turn things around, and make everyone happy."


End file.
